the memorable travel moments of two active over-fifties

Hadrianswallmoments.com are Valerie Mutton, a lawyer-turned-writer, and Steve Rees, who works in the computer industry and is an avid photographer. We’re active travellers and we’re here to inspire other ‘over fifties’ like us to live your adventure travel dreams . About the name: Twenty-two years ago, on our first trip to the UK, Steve wanted to…

In this second post, I continue sharing discoveries I made about myself while travelling in South Korea. Namely: Sometimes I can overcome differences in expectation vs. reality. Sometimes, not so much. Discovery #2 Comparisons Invite Judgments “There” is not “here” and there’s no reason why it should be. Nami Island I’ve spent many happy hours…

Sometimes the most important discovery you make when you travel isn’t the best restaurant or the best shopping–it’s self-discovery. In this and the following post, I bare my Seoul, and share some thoughts about how a different culture and new experiences challenged my worldview.

“I will never go on a cruise,” I vowed. Let me explain: I am an introvert-bordering-on-hermit with mild claustrophobia who throws up on the kiddie roller-coaster. Seasickness. Ships the size of cities. Cabins the size of closets. Excruciating small talk at dinner tables of ten. Everything I had heard about cruises made me convinced that I…

One of the best things about travel is seeing ordinary life from another country’s point of view–ho hum for them but new and interesting for us. Here are some signs we’ve seen on our travels that I doubt the locals give a second glance–but they sure made us do a double take!

I was travelling on my own in Prague. I gave the taxi driver a sheet of paper with the name and address of my hotel, which had so many accent marks it looked like a grammar teacher had been doodling on it. The driver took me on a wild and unnecessarily long ride through bumpy,…

I Dreamed a Dream in Days Gone By… When I was a little girl, I had a subscription to a magazine called Children’s Digest. It was like Reader’s Digest, only for kids. It had book excerpts and informative articles about different countries and cultures. I devoured every single article. (This was back in the days…

This post will be more photo essay than essay, as we let the beauty of the mountains and valleys speak for itself. Day 5–Everybody Lucmabamba! As Day 5 dawned, and we prepared to trek from Colpapampa to Lucmabamba, we were sorry to say farewell to the breathtaking views from Colpa Lodge: But we knew that…

Day 3–Up the Airy Mountain The day dawned drizzly and cold, but the weather didn’t dampen our spirits. Our group was buzzing with nervous energy. Day 3 was considered to be the most physically gruelling, the most personally challenging, and we were ready to get on with it. Some in our group had come primarily…

Day 1–Trepidacious Trekkers I was so nervous that I didn’t sleep much the night before. Nagging self-doubt about my ability to manage such a strenuous trek kept me awake. We were picked up in a van from various hotels, and our group slowly came together. My first impression of the group as each boarded the…

We flew into Lima on Air Canada Rouge and stayed at the airport hotel (Costa del Sol Wyndham) as we had arrived at about 1 a.m. and most flights to Cusco leave later in the morning. Then, after a good sleep and breakfast, we caught a short flight to Cusco, where, on good advice, we…

If you’ve ever uttered the words “Bucket List” or “Carpe Diem” and then settled back into your armchair, this blog is for you, my friend. For those of us over fifty, it can be daunting to get out of our comfort zones–or, less charitably, out of our ruts, even if we want to travel. In…

Isn’t that the corniest title ever for a blog post? Steve went to Seoul on a business trip, and when he asked if I’d like to come along, it took me about a nanosecond to say yes. This was my first trip to Asia, and I have to say that I fell in love with…

The city’s motto is “Keep Austin Weird.” But I didn’t find it that weird. I had a very pleasant time exploring the city while Steve was presenting at a conference. I’ll tell you about some fun things to do in Austin, and the one thing I did think was weird (but you have to read…

Steve’s business trip took him to Ireland, so I went along. Dublin is a wonderful city, friendly, easy to navigate on foot, and chock-a-block with pubs. What more could you ask for in a destination? Here are our top picks for great experiences while in Dublin: Kilmainham Gaol: The tour was excellent. The starting point…

You know you’ve got to get out of Vegas for the day when you catch yourself humming “My Heart Will Go On.” It’s the first symptom of VOS, otherwise known as Vegas Overstimulation Syndrome. When the incessant thumping of Rihanna and Katy Perry songs throughout the hotel–everywhere, even in the bathrooms, even at the pool–is…

I’m sure I’m not the first to say that Las Vegas is a very strange place. It is an amazing, exciting, vibrant place to be, and you can have a great time there, but you do have to learn how to consciously overlook the Ick Factor. By which I mean that on your way to…

I’m 52, both of my parents are deceased, and my kids have moved away to go to university. This is, in fact, the Betty Crocker recipe for an existential crisis. In case you are having trouble finding it, it is also cross-referenced under ‘midlife crisis’ (which I believe is the vegan equivalent). And so it…

So, somehow I ended up in Mexico. Well, I know how, sort of. Steve was supposed to be going on a business trip to India for two weeks right at the start of us being empty-nesters. Our daughter has been in university for going on four years, and I’ve just barely gotten used to it–…

After a particularly trying winter of 2015, which piled stress on top of sadness on top of grief, with weeks of minus-35-degree Celsius weather thrown in for good measure, I needed a break. I’m not normally one for restful vacations in warm places. I get bored easily on beaches and feel restless from lack of…

A short walk from the waterfront puts you right in A Coruña’s old town, adjacent to the expansive town square, the Plaza de Maria Pita. The cobbled streets of the old town are chock-a-block with restaurants, which don’t really get busy until later in the evening. Tapas bars abound, and they are busy earlier. It seems a…